Three poems by j.lewis

 

mother macduff

she stands her ground

in somber royal blue

confronted by a coalescence

of coals and smoking sulfur

waits for him to speak

waits until the hissing steam

dissipates away from yellow eyes

lips move and in her mind she hears

nothing she wants, everything she fears

accusations and prophecies

of pain, of trials, of early death

his words shadow the promises made

around this child who swells

beneath her golden waist-chain

who turns, then stills

he will untimely come

but he will not come yet

not for babylon

i watched him sit and weep

there by the river

and i thought that certainly

he was remembering babylon

of egypt's flesh pots

maybe the day the manna stopped

what i could not see

through my preconception

was that he cared nothing

for biblical trials

hanging gardens

or divine sustenance

he only knew his pain

and pitiful impotence

against nature's indiscriminate fury

that made a river rise

to swallow his family

in front of his helpless eyes

only for you

there is violence involved

in existing only for you

a tearing away from others

present

past

and future,

burying alive

memories that will not die

not of their own volition

memories that breathe

seduction and betrayal into dreams

if i am not violent

how can i confront

confound and conquer

the inevitable distractions

the dalilah deceptions

that would strip me of the strength

that binds me to you

despite your best objections

love is and must be violent

there is no gentle victory

in this battle that i wage

to love only you

j.lewis is an internationally published poet, musician, nurse practitioner, and Editor of Verse-Virtual, an online journal and community.  When he is not otherwise occupied, he is often on a kayah, exploring and photographing the waterways near his home in California.  He is the author of four full length collections and several chapbooks.  More information can be found at https://www.jlewisweb.com/books.asp